Debate Over Future Of Low-Incoming Housing Site

Two plans to replace low income housing units off Broadway were the subject of much debate Tuesday during the Sacramento City Council meeting. But, they are a long way from becoming a reality

Plans to replace the Marina Vista and Alder Grove housing units are in the very early stages. The buildings were built in the early 1940's. The buildings in the neighborhoods are on the national register of historic places.

Robert Parker is with the City Church of Sacramento. It was part of the group that studied what to do with the buildings.

"There are other periphery concerns-all of them very important- the business concerns, the periphery residents concerns. But the emphasis has to be maintained on the needs of the residents of that community."

The proposed project would include education, health, and job-training services.

Several speakers urged developers to include a museum dedicated to African American attorney Nathaniel Collie. In 1953 Collie sued on behalf of a resident who challenged the Sacramento housing authority's discriminatory practices. It was a landmark decision cited in similar suits across the country.

The project would create 1200-to-1500 housing units where there are now 750 units.

Joyce Johnson and other residents of nearby Land Park say they are reluctant to increase the amount of low income housing.

"I don't think the problems in that very low-income community will be improved by tearing down the existing historical buildings and rebuilding even more densely-populated, concentrated center of deep poverty in the same spaces."

The project would create 1200-to-1500 housing units where 750 units now stand.

The project is at least a decade away and is estimated to cost between $40-million and $100-million.

Bob reports on all things northern California and Nevada. His coverage of police technology, local athletes, and the environment has won a regional Associated Press and several Edward R. Murrow awards. Read Full Bio